Many people, through accident or other untoward event, have had the unfortunate and painful experience of having their hands and fingers swell rapidly. A sudden and violent blow to a finger or an infection, may result in such swelling, for example.
If the person is wearing a ring, such swelling may cause extra pain, and the ring may interfere with any medical procedure which will be undertaken with regard to the patient. Thus, the ring must be removed from the patient's finger.
However, in such an instance, removal of the ring can, itself, be an extremely painful procedure. Additionally, in some cases, ring removal should be as rapid as possible. Often, speed and comfort cannot be reconciled thereby subjecting the patient to further discomfort.
While the present inventor is aware of devices for removing finger rings, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,867,342 to B. Wieg, none of these devices operate as fast as necessary for a patient's comfort. It must be remembered that the patient may be in severe pain, and thus speed can be extremely beneficial.
Furthermore, devices, such as the Wieg device, require manual manipulation of the device to cut the ring. Such manual manipulation may cause the cutting device to move thereby causing further pain as the operator manually manipulates the device during the cutting procedure. Such manual manipulation is also slow.
Accordingly, there is a need for a device for removing rings from fingers that will operate rapidly and can remain steady during the cutting procedure.
While devices such as the Wieg device can cut a ring, it has been observed that if the finger is extremely swollen, simply cutting the ring will not be sufficient to permit removal thereof from the finger. The ring must be opened to permit complete removal. Such opening may require that the ring be cut again at a location spaced from the first cut, or be pried open at that cut.
A second cutting operation will simply slow the process down and can inflict still more pain on the patient. However, a prying operation may inflict still greater pain since the ring being cut and now contains sharp edges from the first cut that may cut into the already painful finger during the prying operation.
Devices, such as the Wieg device, that require the cutting tool to be removed and replaced by an opening tool thus not only slow the process, but may subject the patient to additional pain as the cutting tool is removed and replaced by a separate ring opening tool.
Therefore, there is a need for a ring cutting tool that will not only rapidly cut a ring from a person's finger, but will do so in a manner that permits the ring to be completely removed without subjecting the patient to pain that might be caused by contact between his finger and the sharp edges of the cut ring.